The invention relates to a process for preparing 2-pyrrolidone by liquid phase hydrogenation of succinonitrile by means of a catalyst in the presence of hydrogen and ammonia, and treating the resulting hydrogenated product with water.
A process of this type is described in British Pat. No. 1,494,454, wherein the hydrogenation is carried out with the required catalyst suspended in a liquid phase consisting of succinonitrile in an inert solvent such as pyridine, and under a hydrogen partial pressure of between 1 and 50 atms. However, one of the difficulties encountered in such a process, particularly in large scale continuous production, is that the suspended catalyst must be removed by filtration. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved process, particularly applicable to large scale continuous production, whereby this difficulty is overcome.